de la COMMUNE, Made Close To Home

de la COMMUNE started when Reese De Luca and Daniel Arango set out to perfect men’s underwear.

To create the perfect pair of underwear, you’ve got to pay attention to more than how the piece fits and looks on your body. You also want to take note of the production process. How were the high-quality materials handled, and by whom? Where was the underwear made and how were they dyed? de la COMMUNE is an up-and-coming fashion brand that produces its looks ethically and aims to bridge the cap between casual and luxury.

“There was always something that bothered us about the other brands: too low rise, leg bands too tight, waistband not comfortable, fabric not soft enough,” said Reese De Luca, de la COMMUNE’s creative director. “I was working as a design director at the time for a big brand and I decided we should just do our own underwear brand!”

Eventually Reese left his job, at which time he and Arango put more energy into de la COMMUNE. Over time, the pair decided to “grow it into a capsule collection with t-shirts, drop crotch sweats and small items.”

This is the fully realized de la COMMUNE that has been gathering speed since Sept. 22, the day their Kickstarter campaign launched. From now until the end of October, De Luca and Arango aim to crowdfund at least $22,000 to get their brand off the ground.

Their entire production process takes place in the United States or Canada. Factory workers earn a fair wage and work decent hours. Their dying process is also environmentally friendly. In fact, de la COMMUNE has partnered with the only solar powered dye facility in America. With this money, de la COMMUNE with not only hold true to their design and manufacturing processes, but also produce the minimum number of products required by their factories.

“After we finish our Kickstarter campaign we’re going to concentrate on production and getting everything made for our backers,” De Luca said. “Once we deliver our orders we’ll be launching our full e-commerce website which will have a full collection with washed out tees, new cool underwear washes and other items. Most importantly, everything will be made in the USA or Canada.”

Where the production is concerned, the brand uses only the best fabrics. And other than the manufacturing done in the USA or Canada, De Luca sees the fabrics as the brand’s best asset.

“I think the treatments that we do to the fabric to increase their softness,” he said. “No one wants to put on a crispy t-shirt. They want it to be super soft and feel luxurious. Our friends swear the t-shirts have modal in them and don’t believe us that they’re 100% cotton!”

And of course, underwear has to have style. So in creating the perfect pair of underwear, De Luca and Arango not only took notice of the environment and how their underwear feels, but how it looks on a guy. De Luca says:

“Both Daniel and I travel a lot and that brings us a lot of inspiration. I’m constantly traveling around the world as a designer seeing what everyone is wearing and what is on trend in cities like Berlin, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Shanghai. Daniel comes from a country (Colombia) that is known for their bright and colorful fashion, so he loves incorporating that into our color choices.”

But like the best ideas, de la COMMUNE’s underwear starts with inspiration. De Luca also tells us that he and Arango are both people watchers. They scope out trends by observing those in downtown areas, sketching their own ideas on their iPhones or iPads. And given the brand’s name, there couldn’t be a better source material.

On the Kickstarter, you’ll find this written:

“A COMMUNE is a group of people sharing common lives, interests, ideas and beliefs. de la COMMUNE is french for “from the COMMUNE or community.”

This is what Reese De Luca and Daniel Arango had in mind with their brand. Which makes it even more fitting that their final step is your support, the backing of men’s underwear enthusiasts.

Will you help get de la COMMUNE off the ground and in your underwear drawer? Which of their premier looks is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below, or by tweeting us @underwearexpert.